Please help. Oral minoxidil is making my hair thinner than ever.

Isneezedsohard

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Just wondering if I should be concerned with the amount my hair has thinned/continued (I’ll be it, slowed down) shedding
 

JaneyElizabeth

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2.5 mg. Topical min as well. Dutasteride. RU. Alfatridiol.
That's a decent sounding protocol. Take a look at this article. You might want something for inflammation, even if you aren't sure that you have it as it is apparently prophylactic. It you are shedding more than you want right now, then I would not go up in any of your meds until it lessens because massive sheds are a high price to pay for success but sheds are actually good. In hair loss as opposed to everyday speech, sheds are not permanent while hair loss is deemed to be due to male pattern baldness. They might overlap but that seems to be the distinction:

 

Isneezedsohard

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That's a decent sounding protocol. Take a look at this article. You might want something for inflammation, even if you aren't sure that you have it as it is apparently prophylactic. It you are shedding more than you want right now, then I would not go up in any of your meds until it lessens because massive sheds are a high price to pay for success but sheds are actually good. In hair loss as opposed to everyday speech, sheds are not permanent while hair loss is deemed to be due to male pattern baldness. They might overlap but that seems to be the distinction:

I hope you are right janey. Thank you for being so on it and active on this forum. Very appreciated
 

JaneyElizabeth

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How long does a typical minoxidil shed last? There has to come a point where it's no longer plausible to "ride it out"?

I've been on around 5-7mg of oral minoxidil for about 6 months and all I've noticed is extra shedding. I'm diffuse af right now just hoping that the "shedding is a good sign" adage comes good for me.
I don't know. I don't think that anyone much shed on two percent minoxidil but five percent might be too strong starting out. Sheds are good but you want to minimize them if possible. I had a shed to baldness not by min/finasteride but by spironolactone which is powerful and I took too large a dose too quickly. It set me up for restoration though and so I didn't sweat it. You have to ride them out or lose the benefits. At least for guys you can get a crew cut or whatever but females can't really do that. Mine fell out in patches so I needed everything to even out. Below is a great article and I would follow the advice and get Keto for inflammation and another milder dandruff shampoo for every day.


Janey
 

vondoom

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i was a bit worried about the same recently, even though i initially thought i dont have a shed (im still not sure about it)... so i was looking up different medications (mainly different brands, generic and brand medication) and most reviews say “shed starts about three weeks/a month in and from month 3-6 you should see gains”...

all reviews said they got gains, a few said that had problems with the amount and got a bloated face on 5, so they switched to 2.5, still the medicine was effective, but not as much as on 5...

i forgot (or maybe didnt see) what anyone said about higher doses...

that gave me a little piece of mind, since i am still a bit uncertain...
 

JaneyElizabeth

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i was a bit worried about the same recently, even though i initially thought i dont have a shed (im still not sure about it)... so i was looking up different medications (mainly different brands, generic and brand medication) and most reviews say “shed starts about three weeks/a month in and from month 3-6 you should see gains”...

all reviews said they got gains, a few said that had problems with the amount and got a bloated face on 5, so they switched to 2.5, still the medicine was effective, but not as much as on 5...

i forgot (or maybe didnt see) what anyone said about higher doses...

that gave me a little piece of mind, since i am still a bit uncertain...
Unless someone does oral min monotherapy, the problem is that we all take a few meds that might work so it is hard to judge say, oral min a 1mg vs. 5mg and so on. I have used 6.25mg and 12.5 mg and 25 mg daily at different times but probably 12.5mg twice daily has worked best for me but it's hard to know how much. I am about at the six month mark and there seems to be a bunch of small whitish hair coming in close to the temples. I have had no hypertrichosis. My beard has gotten scratchier which I dislike but it is well worth if for hair. For guys, increased beard growth is probably viewed as a positive.
 

vondoom

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yeah not for me^^
the people in the reviews there (no matter which brand) are using almost exclusively dutasteride/oral min...
nobody trying anything outrageous...
i just go with 5g for now, can still up it to 10 later... i guess i try after the 6 month mark, if nothing happens...

i also somehow doubt that putting everything you can find on your head/in your body has actual benefits...

i use adenosine, too though...
if that helps, i dont know, but it seems to be making the hair healthier, so i just use it (got a 300mg bottle by accident anyway)...
 

vondoom

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after a year on 10mg, i am now back to 5mg and added topical... and topical works far better for me (i dont even think it is the combination)... also body hair increases less...
 
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